Alibaba Group plans to merge its food delivery units and raise funds for the combined business, intensifying a battle with Tencent-backed Meituan Dianping for dominance of China's booming on-demand services market.

Europe's biggest pure online fashion retailer trimmed its sales and profit outlook for the full year after quarterly results fell short of analyst expectations even though it reported a record number of customers.

Amazon, Microsoft and Alphabet are locked in a tight race to become the second publicly-listed U.S. company to reach a $1 trillion stock market value after Apple became the first to touch the 13-digit milestone.

Online retail giant Amazon.com Inc , whose entry into Australia last year rattled established bricks-and-mortar retailers, posted a modest loss in its earliest days in the country, corporate filings show.

Desigual CEO Thomas Meyer has acquired a 10% stake in the Spanish fashion brand, which was purchased by the Eurazeo investment firm in 2014. Meyer now becomes the sole shareholder of the Barcelona-based label.

Safilo said on Thursday it expected a 3 percent decline in full-year 2018 sales at constant currencies after poor sales in Europe and ongoing weakness in North American department stores hit its second-quarter.

The US beauty supplies specialist recorded a 0.2% decline in net sales, down to $996.3 million, in the third quarter. The company is maintaining its focus on its restructuration plan, and announced the forthcoming closure of 1-2% of its stores.